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| Metal Nanodots and What Means For The Future Of Cancer Care |
Metal-Based Nanodots are really going to change things. The Future Of Cancer Care is looking very good because of Metal-Based Nanodots. Metal-Based Nanodots will help doctors treat cancer in a way. The Future Of Cancer Care with Metal-Based Nanodots is going to be very different from what we have Metal-Based Nanodots are a deal, for The Future Of Cancer Care.
Researchers at RMIT
University did an important study. They made metal particles called nanodots.
These nanodots are special because they can hurt cancer cells without hurting
cells too much. Professor Jian Zhen Ou and Dr. Baoyue Zhang led this project.
They found a way to fight cancer that is different from what we did before.
This new way can help destroy tumors without hurting the rest of the body. RMIT
University researchers are very excited, about these nanodots because they can
help people with cancer. The nanodots are a deal because they can push cancer
cells to die while leaving healthy cells alone.
Traditional
treatments like chemotherapy can be really harsh they damage everything around
them. These new nanodots are different they are like an attack they find the
weak spots, in bad cells the malignant cells and they go after those malignant
cells.
The Science of
Molybdenum Oxide Nano medicine
The secret to this
technology is really about molybdenum oxide. This is a compound that comes from
molybdenum. Molybdenum is a metal that you usually find in industrial alloys
and high-end electronics. The team, at RMIT made some chemical adjustments to
molybdenum oxide. That is how they turned this industrial material into a very
useful medical tool. They used molybdenum oxide to do this. The RMIT team
worked with molybdenum oxide to make it happen.
Chemical Tuning for
Biological Impact
The research team
carefully adjusted the composition of the metal oxide by introducing amounts of
hydrogen and ammonium. This fine tuning changed how the metal oxide particles
manage electrons, which allowed the metal oxide to do a things, such, as:
• The metal oxide
started to handle electrons in a way
• The metal oxide
became better at managing electrons
The research team
found that the metal oxide was able to do these things because of the tuning
they did to the composition of the metal oxide by introducing tiny amounts of
hydrogen and ammonium.
1. Create Reactive
Oxygen Species: these are molecules
that can really hurt the inside of a cell. Reactive Oxygen Species are like
troublemakers that can damage the things that make a cell work properly. When
Reactive Oxygen Species are formed they can cause a lot of problems, for the
cell.
2. Operate in
Darkness: These Nano dots are
different from treatments that need light to work. The nanodots can work
without any help, which makes them really good, at getting deep into the body
where it is dark. The nanodots do not need any light to do their job. This is
an advantage of the nanodots.
I often wonder why
cancer cells are the ones that get killed. What is it about cancer that makes
it so vulnerable to treatment? The answer lies in something called the stress
threshold. Cancer cells are really sensitive to stress. When they get much
stress they die. That is why doctors can use medicines to kill the cancer
cells. These medicines put a lot of stress on the cancer cells so they die. The
stress threshold is like a limit that cancer cells have. When they go over that
limit they are done for. So the goal of cancer treatment is to find ways to
push the cancer cells over their stress threshold. That is why they only kill
cancer cells. The stress threshold is an important idea, in cancer treatment
and it is what makes it possible to kill cancer cells without hurting the
healthy cells too much. Cancer is a tricky disease and the stress threshold is
a key part of understanding how to fight it.
One of the common
questions doctors get about cancer is how a treatment figures out which cell to
kill. The study from RMIT University shows us a cool thing about biology:
Oxidative Stress is, like a trick that helps.
"Cancer cells
are already under a lot of stress more than cells " says Dr. Baoyue Zhang.
"The particles we use make that stress a bit worse, for cancer cells. This
extra stress is enough to make the cancer cells destroy themselves.. Healthy
cells can handle it and they are okay."
In a lab these tiny
nanodots were able to kill cancer cells. They did this at a rate that was three
times faster than they killed cells. This all happened in 24 hours. The
nanodots worked by increasing the pressure inside the cancer cells. This
pressure forced the cancer cells to die. This is because the nanodots made the
cancer cells go through what's called apoptosis. Apoptosis is, like a process
that the body uses to get rid of bad cells. It is basically a cell death that
the body uses to kill off cells that are not good anymore. The nanodots were
able to make the cervical cancer cells go through this process.
Comparison: Nanodots
vs. Traditional Therapy
|
Feature Metal |
Chemotherapy RMIT |
Nanodots |
|
Targeting |
Systemic (Non-selective) |
Highly Selective
(Stress-based) |
|
Material |
Synthetic Drugs Molybdenum |
Oxide (Metal-based) |
|
Cost |
High |
Affordable
(Abundant Metal) |
|
Activation |
Always Active |
Selectively
Reactive |
The medicine can
have some side effects. These side effects are pretty serious. They happen
often. For example people taking this medicine might lose a lot of hair. Feel
sick to their stomachs. On the hand some people might not have many side
effects, from the medicine at all.
International
Collaboration and Validation
This big discovery
did not happen on its own. The research was a team effort that included:
• The Florey
Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (Melbourne)
• Southeast
University (China)
• Hong Kong Baptist
University
• Xidian University
(China)
• Supported by the
ARC Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs (COMBS).
The team went beyond
biology. They found out that these dots are really good at breaking down
chemicals. They used the dots to break down a dye. The dots broke down the dye
by 90 percent in just 20 minutes. This happened in darkness. This shows that
the dots are aggressive enough to handle environments, inside cells. The dots
are chemically aggressive which means they can handle cellular environments.
Economic and Safety
Advantages
Molybdenum oxide is
different from experimental treatments that use noble metals like gold or
silver. Molybdenum oxide does things that these other metals do not. For
example molybdenum oxide is special because it is not like gold or silver.
Molybdenum oxide is used in a way, than these other noble metals.
• Cost-Effective: The fact that cost-effective materials
are used in industries makes cost-effective materials cheaper to find and buy.
This is because cost-effective materials are widely available.
• The manufacturing process
for these things is easy to make bigger. This means it can be used for production. It is a lot simpler than
making synthetic drugs. The manufacturing process for these things can be
adapted easily. This is because it is not as complicated as the process, for
synthetic drugs.
• These particles
are biocompatible which means they
are safer for the body when used for a long time. The study shows that
biocompatible particles like these can be used in the body without causing
harm. This is news for people who need to use these particles for a long time
because biocompatible particles are less likely to cause problems, in the human
body.
What is next for the
human trials process? The road to trials
is a very important step. Human trials are what we are all waiting for. The
human trials will show us if everything is working the way it should be.
• We need to make
sure the human trials are done correctly
• The human trials
will help us learn a lot about what we're doing
The road to human
trials is not easy but it is a big part of the human trials process. We have to
be very careful with the trials. Human trials are the key, to moving.
The lab results are
really amazing. The technology is still pretty new. The COMBS research team at
RMIT is now working on some goals, which are:
• The COMBS research
team at RMIT wants to achieve these things with the COMBS technology.
The main thing is
that the COMBS research team, at RMIT is trying to make the COMBS technology
better.
1. Advanced Delivery
Systems: We want to make
sure the nanodots only start working when they get to the tumour site. This way
the nanodots and the Advanced Delivery Systems can do their job. The main goal
of Advanced Delivery Systems is to help the nanodots reach the place.
2. Animal Modelling: Testing the safety and efficacy in
complex living organisms.
3. Pharmaceutical
Partnerships: Seeking biotech
collaborators to scale the technology for clinical trials.
Conclusion: A Gentler Future for Patients
